Christian-3 Years Old

Handsome Boy

Gotcha Day

April 12th 2010 was when we met our precious son, Christian. He was such a scared anxious little one. You've come such a long way our sweet little boy. We look forward to many more Gotcha Day celebrations.

This is the office were we waited so anxiously for you

You were a little late, so we were looking out of the window. We spotted you, the orphanage director was bringing you into the building.

We already loved you so much, but you had not idea what was going on and you were scared.

The man in this picture loved you before we did. He had tears in his eyes when he thanked mommy and daddy for bringing you home to your family.

Look at you now! Such a sweet, smart, confident boy.

We are so happy to have you home with your family!

Where Have We Been?!

Wow, no posts since January. I am not ready to give up this blog yet! I figure the best way to catch up is through pictures. So here goes....

We've begun potty training Christian. Daddy rescued him from this little mishap

The boys have been doing lots of learning and studying on their new desk




Brothers

Sleeping on an LSU tiger :)

Christian enjoyed his first Mardi Gras

He loved catching beads from his Daddy's shoulders

We weren't sure how Christian would feel about Mardi Gras. There are lots of people and noise.

He LOVED it! The weather wasn't the best this year, so we only went to this one night parade.

It was lots of fun!

Mamma, Jacob and his class went on a field trip to the zoo.

Christian's daycare hosted a fun Easter egg hunt

Happy 3rd Birthday Christian

April 1st 2011

It's already been six months!

We meet our baby boy on April 13th. So six months ago we were in China. At a tea shop in this picture. There weren't many smiles back then. He was unsure, scared and easily over stimulated.

He is now 5 pounds heavier

Over an inch taller


Loves his big brother

And is thriving in his new family

Thank you God for trusting us with this precious little soul

My Precious Boys

Three months ago today.....

We returned home from China with our precious little boy. So much has changed since then, it is amazing what love and trust can do for a child. We no longer have that little boy with such fear in his eyes (his whole body, really). He no longer has muscle definition in his abdomen from crying so violently many hours during the day. You can no longer see his little ribs from the front and back of his body. His skin is no longer dry itchy and more like an alligator than a baby.

Christian is now sweet, loving and full of joy. He is such a blessing to our family. Jacob tells me every day how much he loves his baby brother. It's hard to remember the time without our sweet little Christian.

Our first moments together

First week home

Last weekend with his Nannie, Parrain and baby Aydin

No time for words...but.....

hopefully these pictures will hold you over until I have time to put together a decent post. There is lots of stuff happening here.

Update

Christian and Jacob are really bonding and falling in love with each other. Christian is no longer only looking to me for affection. He gets so excited to see his big brother. They are playing very well together and Jacob is very protective of his little brother. Just yesterday he told me that he loves his baby brother so much.

Christian has begun trying to repeat everything we say. I believe that he understands most of what is said to him. He follows most commands given to him. I am amazed by how much he has learned in such a short amount of time. Christian was having some digestive issues, but that seems to be settling down a bit. I guess his little body has to acclumate itself to so many new things. I am trying to keep his diet simple and add new foods slowly.

This past week I got a new camera and I am just learning how to use it. Hopefully, I'll master it soon and there will be many beautiful pictures on my blog. For now, enjoy my practice pictures :)

Update

Christian has been with his family for 5 weeks now and in his forever home for 3 weeks. So, how are we doing? We are doing just fine!

Progress:
Christian doesn't have panic tantrums anymore :). He just gets upset for usual 2 year old stuff.....like when he's tired, hungry, wet...etc and is easily comforted.

Christian feeds himself with a spoon/fork! One day he just took the spoon from me and he has been feeding himself ever since. Last night he mixed his noodles with his bluberry yogurt and had blue noodles.

Christian LOVES his mamma! I've been venturing away from home for a couple of hours a day. When I get home he giggles, kicks his feet and gives me the sweetest baby kisses.

Christian LOVES his daddy! Daddy is the funest...they play "monsters" and "hide n go seek".

Christian LOVES his big brother! Their relationship took a big leap forward when they started taking baths together! So cute! Christian greets big brother with a big hug when he gets home from school.

Christian sings! He was singing the theme to Bob the Builder yesterday. It took Jacob and I a little time to recognize it (sorta sounded like Chinese), but we did.

These things are so important and we are so blessed that our bonding is progressing. We are so madly in love with this precious little boy. He talks to us constantly in Chinese. Some of the things he tells us seem pretty important to him and they are said with such urgency.

There is a Chinese lady here in town who is teaching Chinese at a middle school. We will be in contact with her and hope that she will come and spend some time with us so we can know what our boy is so urgently trying to tell us.

Cousins

Turning the corner....

We've had 3 good days in a row. I think the tantrums are done! Praise God!

We have a happy,playful baby. Christian is interacting with Daddy again and discovering how much fun he is. They both giggled for the longest time last night. He is also much less clingy and prefers to play on his own rather than have me hold him all the time.

On Monday and Tuesday we had some medical testing done and Christian tolerated it quite well. His ultrasound revealed that all of his internal organs are normal. We are waiting for the final results on the blood work, but he seems to be a healthy boy. He is even less and less itchy, which is making bedtime better. He was scratching himself to sleep. I think it was a combination of his rash and self-soothing behavior. We are hoping that his skin condition is due to poor nutrition/water in China and it will clear up in time.

Jacob is also enjoying playing with his little brother.